


Snow Queen

by MechanicalAngel



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-24
Updated: 2015-08-24
Packaged: 2018-04-16 23:50:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4644642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MechanicalAngel/pseuds/MechanicalAngel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aellai Surana thought the most stressing thing in her life was her Harrowing, boy was she wrong. Now suddenly she has to watch over her brother while simultaneously killing darkspawn, keeping an eye on a frisky assassin, and falling in love with a witty bastard who turns out to be the heir to the throne.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snow Queen

**Author's Note:**

> This will begin before Origins, and possibly continue through to Inquisition. 
> 
> Key facts: Aetir Surana belongs to The13thBlackCat (you should look her up, she has some amazing stories). Hawke will show up briefly, he also belongs to 13 as my Hawke canonically is already in Kirkwall.

The occasional odd noise wasn't uncommon in the Circle; in fact it was when everything became quiet that the Templars became suspicious. Still, sometimes it was better to be quiet, especially when wrapped in the arms of another mage: _fraternizing_ was something considered taboo by both the older mages and Templars, not that that stopped it entirely.

Veilfire lit the room in an unearthly green light, casting shadows across it. Aellai sighed softly, snuggling back against Anders as he slipped his fingers through her hair to gently massage her scalp. Anders’ room wasn’t exactly the most concealed of places—definitely not as private as some of the senior enchanters’, who had the luxury of near-total seclusion if they wanted it—and the thought that any moment they could get caught always caused her heart to flutter. It was _exciting_ ; especially for someone like _her,_ who strived to follow the rules as best she could, unlike her brother. Anders was _bad_ for her, and she _liked_ it.

The Templars must have suspected something, she knew: Anders had a habit of getting into trouble after all, and that was enough to earn their distrust. Luckily, despite his reputation, no one could deny that he was an accomplished mage in his chosen field—healing—and Aellai had made sure to express her interest in the same field. She might not have been exactly the _nicest_ person at times, or easiest to get along with—particularly if you asked her brother—but she did like to help others. Being a healer brought her one step closer to her goals with Anders, and one step closer to the possibility of being able to leave the walls of this awful place, for a time: after all, healers were sometimes needed outside, in the world that existed beyond the Circle. That was, of course, if she could even pass her Harrowing, _whatever_ it was.

The thought of her Harrowing caused butterflies to stir in the pit of her stomach. Aellai prided herself for being top of her class, though she shared the spot with her brother. There wasn’t a test around that she couldn’t pass, and with flying colors—but how could she study for a test she knew nothing about? None of the Harrowed mages talked about the test—they _couldn’t_ , it was one of many things that were against the rules—and none of the apprentices were told anything until they were taken up to the chamber themselves.

“I’m nervous.”

The sound of her voice startled her slightly; she hadn’t meant to actually speak out loud. Aellai heard the quiet, questioning noise from Anders’ throat, a little vague like he hadn’t been listening, and her lips curved into a slight smile. Twisting in his arms to look at him, she leaned up to press a short, sweet kiss against his chin.

“Did you even hear what I said?”

“I most certainly did,” Anders replied, but the sheepish grin that spread over his face a second after her said it told her otherwise. Aellai’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she swatted him playfully. Her face fell a moment later, and she shifted to pull away and sit up. Playing with the hem of her sleeve, Aellai pulled her lower lip between her teeth, chewing on it nervously.

“Aellai?”

The elven mage looked up at her name and the concern in his eyes made her smile despite herself. Anders was so sweet, so _caring_ ; Aellai often found herself wondering what had attracted the human to _her,_ since she was very seldom a sweet person herself. Anders’ fingers brushed against her cheek, tracing the curving path of the black tattoo there, and he raised a brow at her expectantly.

Letting out a breath, Aellai began softly, “I…know you can’t tell me anything about it, it…it’s against the rules, but… _you’ve_ passed your Harrowing, and I…” She exhaled harshly, gesturing angrily. “They won’t even tell you what it _is_. How can you prepare for something that you don’t _know_ about?”

“Ah,” Anders’ answer was a bit reluctant. The human’s brows came together in frustration and concern, moments before he blew out a breath. Aellai understood his hesitation, and while she would never truly _ask_ him to tell her—she was too much of a believer in following the rules—that didn’t mean that she didn’t _wish_ that he would tell her something. _Anything_.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips, and Aellai shook her head. “I just...”

“Don’t like things being out of your control?” Anders suggested helpfully, his tone teasing. The elf turned her gaze to him, her eyes narrowed and her ears flicking in annoyance. He moved to sit up and his lips pressed against hers, and Aellai made an unamused noise in her throat. She didn’t break off the kiss, however, sighing against his lips as she relaxed against him.

“I can’t tell you much,” Anders said against her lips, brushing his fingers through her shoulder-length hair, “but I can promise you that _you_ will be fine.”

The matter-of-fact way that Anders said those words helped ease some of her fear, but it was still there, gnawing at the pit of her stomach. Aellai sighed, shifting to press her forehead against his chin. Her eyes fluttered closed after a moment, and she made a quiet noise in her throat as she tilted her head to press into his touch.

“We could always run away together,” Anders added suddenly, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. Aellai raised her head to look at him, her brow raised in question and her lips starting to quirk into a laugh at the suggestion. She couldn’t tell by his expression if he was being serious or not, but he couldn’t be. Could he? She wouldn’t deny that the thought was…tempting. _Well, what could be the harm in entertaining the idea?_

“…where would we go?”

The corners of Anders’ mouth curved into a small smile, and he shrugged slightly. He slipped his arms around her waist, pulling her back against him as he rested his chin on the top of her head.

“Wherever we wanted. North...south. Anywhere.” He paused, then snorted. “Barring Orlais, of course…or the Anderfels, nasty place. Anywhere else, though.”

A laugh slipped past Aellai’s lips, soft and light, before she fell silent. Her brows came together, and she let out a weary sigh. Even if she _could_ get out of the Circle—which, with Anders’ help, might actually be possible—she would never leave her brother. She _couldn’t_ leave her brother.

“If you’re worried about your brother, he could come too,” Anders said after a moment of silence, almost as if he’d read her mind. Aellai looked up, closing one eye and squinting at him with the other, as if studying him. She pursed her lips, and raised a finger to press the tip against his nose.

“I thought mages could only read minds with blood magic?”

A gasp of dismay slipped past Anders’ lips, and he looked at her as if personally injured. “Are you _accusing_ me of _blood_ magic?”

“Oh, stop it,” she said, her tone exasperated as she pushed him away. A laugh left Anders’ lips, and he pulled her back against him, ignoring her protests. Aellai huffed softly as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“It isn’t hard to know what you’re thinking about, sweetheart. Not when it involves your brother.”

Aellai pouted in response, but she suspected that that statement was true. Aetir was the only family she had left since they’d been taken from their mother eleven years ago, and it left her very protective of him. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for her brother; in the back of her mind, she had a sinking feeling that that would get her in trouble someday.

Aetir didn’t like the Circle. Not that she _did_ , precisely—of course she would have wanted to be free—but she was more practical than he was, realizing that there was nothing they could do about it. _He_ was constantly testing the rules to see how far he could bend them—harassing the Templars in ways that wouldn’t truly get him in trouble, breaking minor rules on what he called “principle”, and so on—before First Enchanter Irving or Aellai herself made him stop. She’d be grey before twenty five at the rate that he was going.

Frankly, his behavior scared her. There were times that Aellai found herself holding her breath, knowing that one day he’d annoy the wrong Templar or say the wrong thing, and then he’d be gone—and she’d be _alone._ Irving was fond of the Surana twins, and especially seemed fond of Aetir—he’d been Aetir’s primary mentor, after all, whereas Aellai had studied under a senior enchanter named Wynne—but even the First Enchanter could only protect him from his own stupidity for so long. And it seemed like Aetir was getting worse day by day, now. She tried to tell herself she was only getting tired of it, and she was noticing things that weren’t there.

It was better than thinking she might lose him any minute.

“Is it possible? Leaving, I mean?” The words were out of her mouth before she had time to really think about them, and she turned her gaze to meet Anders. The human mage frowned, reaching up to cup her face. Aellai stared up at him expectantly as his eyes seemed to search her face. Anders’ let out a pleased sound in his throat, and leaned forward to claim her lips in a soft, sweet kiss.

“I’ve already escaped six times,” he answered. “What is one more time and two more mages?”

 

* * *

 

 

The sound of the lake’s water crashing against the stone of the Circle’s island below could be heard from the open window, and a slight breeze from the lake’s surface brought the smell of damp stone and fish with it. It was a scent that was normal around the lower levels of the Circle tower, but not this far up. It was sure to attract attention, and the sight that would meet any Templar that came to investigate wouldn’t be a good one.

“ _Aetir_.”

Aellai’s arms were crossed, her foot tapping against the floor as her ear twitched in annoyance. Her twin was hanging halfway out of the window, his hands gripping the edge tightly as he stared intently at the ground below.

“It isn’t that far down,” Aetir mused quietly, more to himself, but that didn’t stop Aellai from hearing and growing even more annoyed. “I bet I could make it.”

“Aetir, _no_.” This was exactly why she hadn’t told him of the plans Anders’ and herself had discussed days before to get them both out of the Circle. She knew Aetir would bother the poor human mercilessly, and get them all in trouble for his idiocy. Really, how _did_ he share the top spot in class with her? Aellai was sure that their mother must have dropped him on his head when he was a baby: it was the only explanation she could think of.

Aellai exhaled harshly, and let her arms fall to her side as she moved towards him. Aetir was a great deal taller than her, something she silently resented him for, and with him leaning out of the window it made it a bit difficult to reach him, but she managed. Her fingers closed on his ear, and she paused for a moment to make sure her nails were digging in before tugging on it roughly and practically yanking him out of the window.

“Aellai!” There was a crackle in the air, moments before Aellai let out a yelp. Her eyes narrowed on Aetir—who had pulled free from her grasp and was rubbing at his ear. Electricity was still arcing between her brother’s fingers, and he was glaring at her, the blue of his eyes bright and sharp in the light at his hands. Aellai knew her brother enough that if she got in arm’s length of him right now, she’d get electrocuted; guiltily, part of her thought she might deserve it.

Though he _had_ brought this upon himself.

Letting out a harsh breath, Aellai turned to close the window, latching it securely afterwards. She stood there for a moment, gazing out the window while she tried to calm herself down, where her hands were pressed against the window pane it had begun to fog. Squeezing her eyes shut tightly, she expelled another breath, and finally turned around to pierce her brother with a furious look.

“You’re going to get yourself killed,” she snapped. Aellai felt her eyelid twitch as Aetir scoffed at her, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared back.

“The fall wouldn’t have killed me. Broken a few bones, maybe, but—“

“That isn’t what I was talking about!” Aellai cut him off, her voice rising in pitch. She marched over to him, jabbing a finger into his chest as she glared up at him. “One of these days you’re going to do or say the wrong thing to the wrong person, and a Templar is going to cut you down where you stand, or _worse_.”

The air was beginning to fog around her hands, and Aellai let out a harsh breath as she tried to control the magic that was humming beneath her skin. She was normally more controlled than this, but between her worrying about her Harrowing and her brother attempting to _jump out of the window,_ her control was beginning to fray at the seams. Aellai felt Aetir take hold of her hands after a moment, rubbing them with his own in an attempt to warm them. It helped, a little…more so when his own palms warmed against hers, his touch buzzing with magic. When she looked up at him, he was frowning, but silent. No matter how much they fought, neither one of them could deny that they were each other's comfort in this place.

“Look…I know you don’t like it here,” Aellai began, her voice quieter than it had been a few moments ago. “I don’t particularly like it either, but…we _are_ here, and there isn’t anything we can do about it. Not yet.” Her ears drooped slightly.

Aetir let go of her hands and dropped his arms to his side, grumbling something under his breath that she didn't quite hear. Aellai sighed, but didn’t press the point; right now, it wouldn’t help. _If it ever did._ Instead, she reached up to brush her hands across Aetir’s shoulders, absentmindedly pulling the occasional little ball of fuzz—and what looked like part of a dried elfroot leaf—off his robes, chewing on her lower lip as she did.

"I have enough to worry about right now, Aetir. I don't need you trying to commit suicide."

"I wasn't trying to commit suicide," Aetir replied, a bit shortly. Aellai didn't even need to see his eyes to know that he had rolled them. Before she could answer someone cleared their throat politely from the doorway. Both twins jerked around to stare at the door guiltily.

"Cullen," Aetir spoke up in surprise, blinking several times at the Templar standing in the doorway. Aellai's expression mirrored her twin’s. _How had he snuck up on them?_ Templar armor wasn't exactly designed to be quiet; at least, not the sort the warriors wore, which Cullen did.

"Ah...I-I wasn't eavesdropping....I just..." The young Templar quickly moved his gaze away from Aetir's, stumbling over his words. Aellai noticed his hands wringing together, and she raised a brow, glancing at Aetir and then back to Cullen as the Templar began to speak again. "I heard talking, a-and..."

"It's fine, Cullen," Aetir cut him off, his expression relaxing into a little smile. Aellai watched in silent amusement as the Templar tried his best not to squirm. Her golden eyes swept to Aetir, and she chuckled to herself at Cullen's obvious discomfort. As far as Templars went, Cullen was one of the better ones: he was friendly, if a bit awkward and quiet, lenient most days, and actually treated them like they were _people,_ and not just animals that needed to be locked up. The worst of it was the fact that he was clearly nervous around them, and that was hardly worth note.

He was relatively new in the Circle—she knew most of the other Templars, not necessarily by name, but by face—and had only been here for a little over year, and they hadn't spoken often. She wasn’t certain how much Templar recruits were exposed to mages before being sent off to guard a Circle, and she knew that the horror stories he'd heard must have been terrible. So, it made perfect sense for him to be nervous around mages, and she could forgive him; especially since, despite obviously being uncomfortable he still treated them better than most people did. After all, here he was, thinking he was being impolite for interrupting them.

“Anyway, it’s your job to investigate mages behaving oddly, isn’t it?” Aellai said, and she almost immediately regretted her words at the look that crossed over his face.

“I wasn’t…! I mean…” He exhaled harshly, looking momentarily like a rabbit frozen in fear as his gaze locked with Aetir’s briefly. “It _is_ my job, b-but you weren’t…I was just curious. I…” He shook his head, then finished, “I should go.”

The Templar bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement, and then quickly exited the room. Both twins stared at the doorway in confusion. She hadn’t meant to offend him or make him even _more_ uncomfortable; she had just been teasing. _Oh Maker._ Aellai made a mental note to herself to find Cullen later and apologize. Apparently, he needed to be handled gently.

“Well,” Aetir spoke finally, breaking the silence. “That was…interesting.”

Aellai giggled in response, and she raised a hand to cover her mouth in an attempt to muffle the sound. She reached out after a moment, slipping her arm around his. Aetir made the token protest in his throat, but didn’t resist as Aellai began walking, tugging him along.

“Come on, I’m sure there is something we can find to do that doesn’t involve you throwing yourself out the window.”

_Or her worrying about her Harrowing._


End file.
